Contributor Dr. Jordan Schaul interviews colleagues Geeta Seshamani and Kartick Satyanarayan, the founders of Wildlife SOS-India, and Nikki Sharp, Exexcutive Director of Wildlife SOS-USA. The bear conservationists reflect on how they are putting an end to the 400 year-old practice of dancing bears in an exclusive Skype interview across the world.

Below is the story of the Wildlife SOS and the Agra Bear Rescue Facility—a welfare and conservation success story based on a holistic approach to ending the cruel practice of Dancing Bears in India.

Courtesy of Wildlife SOS

The sloth bear (Melursis ursinus) is unique to the Indian Subcontinent and numbers near 10,000 in the wild. A species of conservation concern, sloth bear numbers are decreasing in the wild do to an array of anthropogenic factors. Fortunately, this extraordinary-looking bear has one less human threat to worry about as pressures associated with the exploitative practice of dancing bears have been suppressed, if not eradicated across India. For over four hundred years, the Kalandars—a nomadic tribal community of Muslim gypsies—had used the sloth bear for Bear Dancing to entertain. Initially intended to entertain emperors and royalty, dancing bear acts have more recently been performed for the entertainment of tourists and the rural public.

Interview:

Jordan: Can you tell us how you learned the extent to which this barbaric practice of dancing bears was discovered in the Republic of India, which by the way is the second most populated democracy on the planet?

Geeta: In 1995, we conducted an investigative study, which was published two years later. The report expressed concern that a much larger number of sloth bears were held in captivity than had been imagined (over 1200 were physically verified by the investigators); and annually it was estimated over 200 bear cubs were poached to supply the demand created by the Kalandars of which less than one third survived to reach the Kalandars for training. The cubs had a high mortality due to the brutality of handling, transportation stress, aggravated by the use of opium to keep the animals quiet in sacks or baskets, while smuggling them in trains and buses to the markets. Due to a complete lack of veterinary attention, knowledge of nutrition or management, more than fifty percent of the animals died in the first three years due to leptospirosis, rabies, infectious canine hepatitis, and tuberculosis in the hands of the Kalandars.

Courtesy of Wildlife SOS

Jordan: Dancing bears is more than just an animal welfare concern—the practice has implications for the conservation of the species?

Kartick: This demand for bear cubs caused by the practice of Dancing Bears used by the Kalandars posed a very real and serious threat to the wild sloth bear population in India. The Wildlife SOS study also exposed the brutal training practices of the Kalandars: the knocking out of the teeth with metal rods; the piercing of the muzzle with an red hot iron needle through which a rope was passed; the castration with a blade sans anaesthesia; and subsequent beatings. In fact, the only instruments of training were fear and pain.

Jordan: What did you do to begin to combat the problem?

Geeta: Since the advent of the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972, the possession and dancing of sloth bears (protected under schedule 1 of the Act) had become illegal and punishable by law.

Wildlife SOS approached the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government. of India with a proposal to establish as a critical first step to implementing the Law—the first Sloth Bear Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Agra. With the cooperation of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, Wildlife SOS established the Agra Bear Rescue Facility. This was the beginning of the end! A great Government and NGO partnership was born. Today, the ‘Agra Bear Rescue Facility’ is globally the largest rescue center for rescued sloth bears, housing over 270 rescued bears on about 160 acres of land allotted to the project by the Uttar Pradesh Government. The organizations involved in establishing the Agra Bear Rescue Facility and which continue to support it are IAR, FTB and One Voice.

Jordan: What is also remarkable is what you did to rehabilitate the Kalandar people. Can you explain?

Courtesy of Wildlife SOS

Kartick: Through an intensive process of engaging with the Kalandar community and living with them in over 60 villages, a relationship of trust was built up between them and the founders of Wildlife SOS. Once convinced, the Kalandars agreed to voluntarily hand over their bears held by them in illegal custody and in turn accept from Wildlife SOS skill training and one-time seed fundsto establish themselves in alternate livelihoods that would improve their quality of life.

Geeta: This community rehabilitation was a complex task and initially we experienced a lot of resistance from the community due to their poverty, their lack of education, health care and proper housing.

The skill training provided by Wildlife SOS to the Kalandars involved carpet weaving, driving, welding, grinding and packaging spices, sewing, jewellery-making, gem cutting and polishing, running tea shops, vending vegetables and goods etc., were just some of the professions chosen by the Kalandars.

Jordan: How many Kalandars have been rehabilitated?

Courtesy of Wildlife SOS

Kartick: More than 3000 Kalandar families have benefitted from this program across India. Kalandar women empowerment projects launched by Wildlife SOS made them second income earners for the family giving the women more respect and a larger say in family matters. Wildlife SOS micro-funded small ventures chosen by them such as selling plastic goods or bangles and cosmetics or rearing poultry and stitching chappals, embroidering wedding sarees, cutting leather for cricket balls. Wildlife SOS also supports the education of Kalandar children by sponsoring school fees, books, uniforms etc so the children would find it easier to integrate with mainstream society and move away from Bear Dancing.

Jordan: Can you explain how we continue to monitor activities to ensure that the practice of dancing bears remains suppressed?

Kartick: Wildlife SOS’s Anti poaching unit called Forestwatch works in collaboration with Police and Forest Departments across India with a network of informers to track bear cub poachers, middle men and traders to control bear cub poaching. Over 70 bear cubs have been rescued from poachers to date

Jordan: We also do outreach through the Agra facility, correct?

Nikki: Correct! The Agra Bear Rescue Facility also functions as a training, education and awareness platform, where Wildlife SOS conducts training programs, workshops and lectures for enforcement officers and students. Premier institutions such as the Wildlife Institute of India, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Forest Research Institute etc. send their trainees on field visits. Veterinary students from all over the world come to study the veterinary procedures and management techniques at the Agra Bear Rescue Facility where extensive research on bear behavior and veterinary aspects goes on all year around.

Comments

Lynne Thrower

United Kingdom

July 9, 2014, 11:51 am

Don’t describe the bears movement because of the pain they are in as ‘dancing’ in the headline, it is not helpful to ending this barbaric practice. Call it what it is, bears being tortured and forced to move through their suffering.

amityadav

Agra

July 7, 2014, 4:46 am

good job my dear

amityadav

agra

July 7, 2014, 4:44 am

so said

Ritu parna deo

india

July 28, 2013, 1:39 am

vrey good planing.well done,

Rosemary Cameron

Australia

April 22, 2013, 9:00 pm

When I saw five ‘dancing bears’ in 42* heat at Agra, I opened my Swiss Army Knife and started to get out of the taxi. “Where is madam going?” said the Sikh driver, grabbing my arm. ‘To kill the man with the bears,’ I replied. He said that I’d never get them onto the plane to Australia. Then he told me about the shelter for rescued bears in Agra, and explained how the government was steadily saving the bears by providing other forms of self-employment for the bear-men.

Brenda Boldt

British Columbia, Canada

October 24, 2012, 12:55 pm

Wildlife SOS, you are my heroes, thank you for all you have done!

aa vijaykumar

india

October 23, 2012, 11:57 am

horrible way to treat an animal to earn for livelihood. such a powerful animal in such a horrible state

Mike swain

London

October 23, 2012, 11:44 am

I reported on this story from Agra a couple of years ago for the Daily Mirror. Kartick and the team do a great job

Farida Tampal

Hyderabad

October 23, 2012, 7:41 am

A herculean task with herculean results. Congrats. Long way to go snakes and snake charmers. Any plans?

Leslie Abrahams

California/ U.S.

October 21, 2012, 6:15 pm

Poor bears, it’s tough to see the pictures of the bears and know they are suffering. Thank you all for helping to put a stop to cruel Bear Dancing.

mara

australia

October 16, 2012, 4:33 pm

Thankyou for your good work looking after the bears and the people too

Judith Cavey

Norwich England

October 16, 2012, 11:49 am

So very glad to read that dancing bears will be a thing of the past. The suffering and misery these poor little bears have endured has been horrific. Now we want to see an end to bear-baiting and the awful bear-bile farms! Congratulations and thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to rescue the bears and care for them in sanctuaries. So much suffering for so many animals, tigers, rhinos, elephants, the list goes on and on.

Jenny Grinstead

Cairns, Australia

October 14, 2012, 9:26 pm

It’s great to read a good news story. Thank you for posting this, and for all the good work being done, to give people an alternative to using bears for income. So sad to look at these photos, it would be nice to see some ‘after’ photos, without the cruel attachments.

elisabeth emma lehner

Österreich

October 14, 2012, 1:16 pm

These poor, poor bears with their sensitive noses,

Mavis Haycock

British Columbia, Canada

October 14, 2012, 12:41 pm

Thank you, thank you, thank you……what more can I say – this medieval practice has made me very sad for many years and finally a solution has been found to stop the bears misery…. Wildlife SOS are my heroes!

Sandra Carson

Canada

October 14, 2012, 11:59 am

I have been following WSPA in their work to help stop bear baiting in Pakistan and this is such wonderful news for the sloth bears of India. Thankyou

Pauline Bunner

United Kingdom

October 14, 2012, 10:38 am

How cruel some People are. To subject any Animal to perform against it’s natural instinct is so sad. To see these lovely, poor Bears tortured like this is beyond comprehension….but the evil will meet their fate. Thank God for People like yourselves who do so much good, hard work in rehabilitating these poor creatures. You are sent from Heaven obviously. My very good wishes to you all.

Ginette Manaigre

Canada

October 14, 2012, 10:06 am

Its about time…!! Now if Bear Bile Farming, Tiger Farming, and the Dog & Cat Meat industry be eradicated forever too, I’d sleep better nights. I suppose all I can do from my end is to continue to send in my donations… and pray…!!

Suzi Tomlinson

United kingdom

October 14, 2012, 5:54 am

Well done, this is the way forward, the pain and abuse these poor bears go through is disgusting just for our “entertainment” lets hope they are watching to make sure nobody slips through the net and these bears are protected.
Good work.

Deb Brownlee

England

October 14, 2012, 4:24 am

So much cruelty to be tackled in the world but every little bit is a step forward and so wonderful when brave and kind people finally achieve change.

Mari Lalana

Canada

October 13, 2012, 10:25 pm

There is some good in the world. Thank you thank you thank you.

Bonnie

October 13, 2012, 7:07 pm

When I read how they handle and train these bears it is heartbreaking, but we need to look at daily practices that occur in the US under the guise of dominion over animals for pleasure and food. Some horse trainers–animal breeders of all sorts–rodeo practices–and on and on.

Cindy Wines

Princeton, Idaho

October 13, 2012, 5:51 pm

These poor, poor bears with their sensitive noses, teeth knocked out and the pain and torture they go through. I am glad you have rescued them and EDUCATED these people that this abuse is not for entertainment. Now we need to do something to rescue the little monkeys that wear doll masks and wear children’s clothing and are also forced to beg.

Suzanne O'Connor

Canada

October 13, 2012, 5:33 pm

This is the greatest news ever. I saw these animals from afar when I was over there, the ones in the sancturay, and the ones in the documentary. Such powerful work everyone has done. I wear the necklace all the time made by the familyman who used to be a bear handler. Wonderul story. Thank you so much!

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